Her Past
by Icefire149
Summary: The first day I saw him I knew he was going to cause me pain. He is a walking reminder of her past. If only I knew what I know now then I could have prevented all the unnecessary pain that is going to be inflicted on them.


**Icefire149 here with an ALL NEW STORY!!!!! YAY!!! You all are so lucky. I found this on my computer today and finished editing it. I forgot I wrote this in between writing Two Loves One Heart and What is Summer? Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer- I unfortunately don't own harvest moon and most likely never will**

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**Her Past**

The first day I saw him I knew he was going to cause me pain. He is a walking reminder of her past. If only I knew what I know now then I could have prevented all the unnecessary pain that is going to be inflicted on them.

"Dad? Hello? Earth to dad! Did you hear me?" Ann yelled while waving her hand in front of my face.

I just stared at her. I was in complete shock. I had no idea what to do. I know I needed to say something, I had to.

"Dad?" she said quiet, a look of concern and panic spread across her face. "Are you ok?" She walked around the bar table and stood close to me.

I was speechless. All I could do was stare at her panicked face.

After a moment she turned to Cliff and said, "Go get Elli and the Doctor."

Cliff turned around and began running towards the door.

"No!" I yelled. There was no need for the Doctor.

Cliff stopped in his tracks and looked wide eyed at me and Ann.

I knew she was going to hate me, but it needed to be said. "No Ann, I forbid you to marry him." I said calmly.

Hurt spread across both their faces, but just as quick anger won dominance in Ann.

"WHAT?" she yelled taking a few steps back. Her deep blue eyes drowned me with sadness.

"You heard me. I'm sorry." I said not meeting her eyes. I went to the side door and went into my bedroom.

How didn't I see this coming? How? I've known all along and I could have said something that could have prevented this. Why did I assume they were only friends? How didn't I see this? Why does her past have to come back to haunt me?

Her past…..

All those years ago she told me her deepest secrets. Annie…oh how I loved her. She didn't always live in Mineral Town. I met her when moved here, she was hoping living in a small town would be a new start.

_I remember when she moved into the Inn. I was a young man and I was working for my aging parents. It was a warm spring day when she arrived in town. _

_Ding, went the bell over the door._

_Looking up from the table I was cleaning all I saw was the most bewitching light blue eyes. I have blue eyes but they are a deep dark blue. I've never seen blue eyes that light shade of blue. But at the same time they were full of sadness. I don't know who would make someone so beautiful so full of sadness. I found myself incapable of looking away._

_She was a beautiful sight. The girl looked about my age and had dark blonde hair. It wasn't ash blonde but was just a dark yellow you could say. But it was just beautiful on her. It was down and came just to the top of her shoulders. Her skin was a light porcelain, like she had never seen sun a day in her life. She was wearing a simple yellow sundress. Nothing fancy, just simple but she made it look like the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. In her hand was one small leather suitcase. She looked fragile and in need of protecting. An unsure expression stayed on her face the whole time. _

_Within seconds her eyes met mine. I flashed her a small smile. She gave me a weak one in return. _

_I took a few steps towards her and said with a big smile, "Hi, I'm Doug."_

_"Hi." she said quietly and not meeting my eyes. "I'm…..Annie." _

_It was that moment that I knew I never wanted to leave her. _

_~*~_

_It took seasons of small gifts and continuous tries of conversations to get more than three words out of the girl. Once she seemed to trust me the barrier was down and I was granted small glances into her world._

_I never gave up. I just had to find out why she seemed so terrified of everything. It wasn't until the happiest day of my life that she finally told me her whole story. It was a little over two years since that day I first saw her._

_"Annie?" I said sitting beside her on the dock. _

_Her eyes never left the movement of the ocean's waves. "Yes?" she mumbled._

_"Annie I have something important to ask you." I said willing her to look at me._

_She looked at me and gave me a small smile. _

_I was so nervous and all I could do was give her a big smile. "I-I……I-I …."_

_"Are you ok?" she asked, concern flashed on her face. _

_"Y-yeah." I stuttered. I took a deep breath and pulled a blue feather out of my pocket._

_"Is that…?"_

_"It's yours." I said handing it to her. For the first time in my life I didn't look her in the eyes. I stared down at my lap._

_She took her hand and tilted my head up to meet her eyes. "I would love to do nothing but say yes, but I just can't." she said, waves of hurt flooded off of her._

_"Why?" I said in a small voice._

_"There is so much you don't know about me. Things you need to know if you really want to marry me. I'm not worth marrying. I'm too damaged." she said not meeting my gaze now._

_"I want to know those things. And if you're willing to tell me I'll be willing to listen. An you are not damaged and you are worth marrying. You are so beautiful, more beautiful than you know."_

_"If you really want to know. Then I will tell you." she said in a whisper. _

_"Please tell." I said encouragingly. _

_"Ok." she said meeting my gaze. She took a deep breath and looked up at me. "My life was always a good one. I grew up near a large city, but I always favored the country. Not long after I graduated high school I met Grant. He was a year or two older than me. We got along quite well. I really liked him and he treated me like a princess. Not long after we met we moved in together, but not long after that I saw his true colors. _

_Grant was handsome but he was easily angered and jealous. Every time he got angry he beat me. He said that if I ever left him, cheated on him, or told anyone that he hit me that he would kill me. And I had no doubts that he really would. I was trapped and had no escape. _

_What made things worse was that I got pregnant. Of course I was happy, I've always wanted a child. But now there were two lives for me to take care of. Every time he beat me I had to make sure I protected the baby growing in my belly. Luckily the months flew by and my baby boy was born. _

_Oh he was beautiful! He unfortunately had his hair, but he had streaks of my hair highlighting it. What I loved most of all was that he had my blue eyes, not his hateful brown eyes. My baby was the most perfect and most beautiful baby I had ever seen. I loved him more than my own life and would gladly give up mine to save his. _

_Grant would put up with the baby here and there, but when ever he got annoyed he took it out on me. I ended up getting beaten worse for protecting the baby, but I never wanted him to lay a hand on him. _

_Just after my baby's first birthday I felt like my world ended. I woke up early in the morning like always but found the house a mess. The one thing that stood out was one simple note on the table._

_Annie,_

_I'm sick of you. I found someone else so I took everything I wanted and the kid. See you never._

_Grant_

_I couldn't believe what I read. I still can't believe it now. But all I kept thinking was why take my baby? Why? I know he doesn't love the boy! I could only figure that he did it just to hurt me once more._

_For a week I waited in the house hoping it was just some sick joke. But he never returned. I never saw my baby again. _

_I packed my things and just got on the first thing that left town, and for me was the ferry here. I just needed to restart my life over." she said, by the end she was shaking and sobbing._

_I wrapped my arms around her and just kept whispering, "It's ok. You did nothing wrong. He was just a jerk that treated you horribly. But your not damaged. You're perfect."_

_After a few minutes she just stopped making sounds but tears were still running down her face._

_"Can I ask one thing?" I asked innocently._

_She looked at me and nodded._

_"What is your son's name?"_

_"Cliff" she said starting a new round of sobs._

_After a few more minutes had passed I said, "Marry me please." I knew for sure that I understood her and I wanted nothing more but to protect her and be her husband. _

_Annie looked up at me with a tear streaked face and nodded._

_~*~_

_A week later we were married and even more inseparable. After she told me her past and what Grant did to her. I promised her I would never tell anyone her secret. And I didn't._

_About a year later my nightmare and my miracle happened. Annie was pregnant and when she was giving birth there were some complications. As soon as it was realized the town doctor kicked me out of the room and a half hour later. _

_ I was finally let back into the room. I was anxious to see how my wife and my new born child were doing. _

_Annie's face was covered with sweat. Her long blonde hair was plastered to her face. But her eyes were still shining with love towards her new daughter. But I could have sworn I saw a flash of sorrow. Was the baby reminding her of her son who would be four now?_

_"Annie." I whispered. _

_She was holding our daughter. Blood was every where but I didn't care I just wanted to see them. Annie held the baby weakly and said smiling, "I love you and look what it made."_

_"She is so beautiful." I said staring at my daughter. She was so tiny. Her hair was the same shade of red as mine, and she even had my eyes! She was truly my daughter. I was happy to see that she had her mother's skin and nose. She truly was the second most beautiful thing I have ever seen._

_"Doug." Annie said whispering._

_I looked up at her and felt sick in the pit of my stomach. Her skin looked a sickly white and her eyes looked dull. "Take her. I'm so tired. Keep her safe." she mumbled, her eyes closing._

_I took my baby girl into my arms and immediately the doctor came running in and pushed me out of the room._

_Not long later I had to face the truth. The complications caused a lot of bleeding and I was lucky for my daughter to have survived. My Annie was gone and all I had was the baby in my arms. I only saw one name to be fit for my daughter, Ann._

_~*~_

_A good nineteen years later nothing much had changed. I was working at my family's Inn, it was mine now. My daughter Ann grew up healthy as ever and did most of the work at the Inn. We had a peaceful life. But one day we had a new guest._

_He was very quiet as he entered the Inn and came over to me hoping to rent a room. He was so nervous and jumpy. _

_But I froze, I literally froze. My breathing stopped, and I could have believed that my heart stopped when he looked up from the floor to my eyes. He had her eyes copied exactly into his head. Her eyes. _

_"What's your name?" I asked._

_"Cliff." he said softly._

_ I quickly rented him a room and retreated into mine. I couldn't believe it. How? Why? Is it really him?_

_Over the next few seasons I learned little things about him and there was no doubt that he was Annie's baby boy._

I left my bedroom and found Ann and Cliff in the Inn's main room just talking. I quietly approached them and sat at across from them. Ann gave me looks of pure hatred and Cliff wouldn't meet my eyes. But I could feel waves of hurt coming off of him.

"Ann. Cliff. There's something I should have told both of you a long time ago."


End file.
